30 September 2015

Normally I never want summer to end, but as long as we’re back in school, I might as well be excited that... it’s fall, y’all! It’s cooler outside, I can justify making chili every week, and Baby P has no less than four fleecy outfits waiting that are adorable. Oh, and football games!

But there’s even more to love this month. Let me tell you about them!

Good reads

Anyone remember that essay a few years ago about how women still can't have it all? The husband of the essay's author now has a fantastic article out about husbands as "lead parents". There were so many parts I want to quote here, so just suffice to say that I found it incredibly insightful on this concept of "lead parenting" and the advantages and disadvantages of fathers being the lead parent.

On a lighter note, look at this beautiful photography mystery! I put this on my list weeks ago hoping that it would be resolved by the end, but I don't have a happy ending for you. Have you figured it out?!

You all heard about the kid arrested for showing off his home-built clock at school, right? By now I think it's apparent that Ahmed Mohamed is a cute geeky kid who was unfairly treated by his school (I gave the administrators the benefit of the doubt at first, but withdrew as I learned more). It's cool that Ahmed has been so encouraged in the aftermath, but what about other kids who aren't as well equipped? This article shared a lot of my feeeeelings about that, which are especially honed given all the diversity statements I've drafted for my job search.

Useful stuff

I already evangelized free carseat checks once before (almost a year ago!), but now there's a whole article doing so. Of course I have to endorse it!

Maybe someday I'll write a follow-up post about how we feed Baby P, but in the meantime, suffice to say this cheerio dust trick is fantastic for slippery finger foods! Bananas + cheerio dust = I become Baby P's current favorite parent.

Recently I've been getting way more spammy robocalls than usual, and they infuriate me. When I'm expecting a call and drop what I'm doing to get to my phone, only to learn it's a telemarketer? OMG. NO. So I went to make sure my number is on the Do Not Call list, and then I found this FTC site, that lets you remove your info from all sorts of lists. Yes please!

Can I be a girly girl for a moment and endorse a beauty product? Honestly, I feel like I've been having a bad hair day practically since I moved to St. Louis (a combination of different water hardness and moving away from my Nashville stylist, the only stylist who really understaaaannnnds meeee). I'm usually loathe to use product in my hair because I wash it so infrequently, but this keratin hair spray stuff has won me over! I figured it was worth the $6 gamble, and my hair really is smoother and shinier. If you also blowdry your hair straight, maybe it'll work for you too!

Home & Design

Sarah has a new show! You know, this Sarah! I confess, I have yet to actually watch a full episode, because I can barely turn on our television let alone set the DVR to record it. But the clips have whet my appetite, so I plan to soon!

One of my perennial blog crushes, Emily A. Clark, wrote a post about why neutral (especially white) curtains are awesome. I said "amen" after practically every sentence.

Did you know how many companies cater to customizing IKEA?! Oh and by the by, ours opens TODAY. I'm in trouble.

This month’s maps

When it comes to maps, John Oliver is not to be trusted.

I was excited about this map entitled "If Every State Had an Official Word" partly because it just looked dang cool, and partly because I wanted to look up the words for my favorite states. And then I saw Missouri's. I mean COME ON. Ah well, it's a pretty map, anyway.

Because I am predictable, here is a map of the vaccination rates in California as of last February. There are private schools where 16/20 kindergarteners ARE NOT vaccinated! Annnnd this is why Baby P is in a daycare where all children must be fully vaccinated.

And only tangentially related to maps is this video of a weatherman pronouncing the 58-letter name of a town in Wales.

Partly I love it because I've been there (heck yes I have) but mostly because he teased it on Twitter beforehand. Adorbs.

Fun Stuff

Proud that this is my alma mater. (It's copying a sign from years ago, but that just makes it a tradition, which is even better.)

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I’m a real-life red-headed stepchild, recently transplanted from Nashville, TN to St. Louis, MO, with my husband, Mr. P. Here you can read about my many projects as a real-life scientist pretending to be a designer in my spare time.